Dusty Jessen has been an audiologist in a busy ENT practice for more than 12 years. In 2013 she wrote and published a handbook (Frustrated by Hearing Loss? 5 Keys to Communication Success) to help people cope with the challenges related to hearing loss.

Summary
Communication is our way, as human beings, of connecting with each
other and with the world around us. Hearing is just one piece of the
communication puzzle. Hearing aids, cochlear implants, and assistive
listening devices do a wonderful job of helping people to hear. But
better hearing will not facilitate better communication unless the other
pieces of the puzzle are put into place. The 5 Keys to Communication Success is a simple and fun way to learn and practice strategies that target all pieces of the communication puzzle.

Online events:

HLAA Educational Webinar Program:

HLAA conducts educational webinars for its members and
constituents. There is no cost to attend webinars.

Webinars generally take place the
third Wednesday of each month with top-notch
professionals. All webinars are captioned and will be recorded for
playback later (with captions); while live webinars must be viewed on a
computer, the replay may be viewed on mobile devices.

Come to one or come to all, you'll meet other people living
with hearing loss, you can share information and make friends. If you
don't have a hearing loss, but your spouse, parent, child or friend
does, you too are welcome.

But I CAN'T HEAR! That's okay, no hearing required, our
meetings are captioned.

The Safety Harbor Library has installed a hearing loop in the
meeting room that we use. We used it for the first time at
our December meeting and it is awesome! Thanks to Mary Ann
DeMeo for her advocacy with the library, not only will our chapter
members benefit from this but many other groups that use the meeting
room at the library.

All you need to do is switch your hearing aid to T-coil
setting and you will hear the speaker as if she/he is standing right in
front of you. For more information on hearing loops, read
below "Get in the Hearing Loop" or come to a meeting, pick up a handout
on it and experience it yourself.

CART? What's that?

CART stands for Communication Access Realtime Translation,
sometimes just called Realtime. It is a system that people use to
convert speech to text. A trained operator uses a phonetic keyboard
(like court stenographers use) hooked up to a computer (usually a
laptop) to type in spoken words. The computer immediately translates
the phonetic input into written text and displays it.

The text displayed from CART can be viewed on the laptop
screen, an external monitor, or projected onto a screen. These options
enable CART to be read by an individual, several people, or even a
whole room of people.

Get in the Hearing Loop

Hearing
Loss Association of America has a public education campaign in
partnership with the American Academy of Audiology. An explanation of
hearing loops, guidance and resources to help you advocate for hearing
loops in your area is available.